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Bank Millennium SABank Millennium hopes for higher mortgage sales in coming quarters
Listed lender Millennium expects that the coming quarters should bring higher mortgage sales. The bank does not rule out that in the second half of the year, the legal risk costs of foreign currency mortgages may be lower than in the first half, bank representatives told a press conference following the release of Millennium's semi-annual financial report.
In the second quarter of 2025, Millennium's new mortgage sales fell to PLN 577 million (EUR 135.54 mln) from PLN 789 million (EUR 185.34 mln) in the previous quarter.
In the first half of 2025, the bank's market share in new sales of these loans fell to 2.6 percent from 7.8 percent in the prior year period.
Bank representatives said that the lower sales of mortgages were not due to a change in the bank's policy in this segment or a deliberate limitation of its activities.
"The slower pace in mortgage loans was seasonal, and it is also important to note that the market was very sluggish. It is not a matter of our decisions, but of the very low level of activity in this market," said the bank's CEO Joao Bras Jorge.
"We have seen a significant reduction in new mortgage sales, which is likely to be reflected in the coming quarters," added Millennium's deputy CEO Fernando Bicho.
The bank's results in the second quarter were burdened by provisions CHF-denominated loans. Total quarterly costs recognised in the profit and loss account related to this loan portfolio (including provisions for legal risk, settlement costs and, among others, costs of court proceedings, statutory interest and legal representation) increased by 13 percent quarter on quarter to PLN 619 million (EUR 145.4 mln) before tax.
On Tuesday, Bank Millennium announced that in the second quarter it had the lowest quarterly inflow of new lawsuits concerning foreign currency mortgage loans in four years, and that this inflow remained below the number of settlements concluded.
"We expect a gradual decline in the cost of legal risk associated with the Swiss franc mortgage loan portfolio. We did not say that each quarter would be lower than the previous one, but we did say that we expect a downward trend," said Bicho.
"When comparing the first half of this year with the first half of last year, we can see a decrease in these provisions of about 10 percent. In the second half of the year, barring any extraordinary events, we should see a further decline in these costs," he added.
Deputy CEO Bicho announced that the bank has no plans to issue retail mortgage bonds.
"We will continue to issue bonds regularly to meet the long-term financing ratio until December 2026. However, for now, at least in the near future, we do not plan to issue such securities to customers," he said, adding that the management believes that there is sufficient demand from institutional investors for such securities.
The group's loan portfolio at the end of the second quarter of 2025 amounted to PLN 74.2 billion (EUR 17.36 bln), down 1 percent year on year. Excluding foreign currency mortgage loans, the portfolio would have grown by 1 percent year on year.
The bank reported that growth in the corporate segment accelerated significantly (up 3 percent quarter on quarter and up 6 percent year on year), with particularly strong growth in the small business segment.
On the other hand, the retail portfolio showed negative growth both on quarterly and annual basis, which, according to the bank, was the result of a rapid decline in the foreign currency mortgage loan portfolio and low sales of new PLN mortgage loans, which failed to offset sales of consumer loans.
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